A discussion with the Left - War and Peace

So I'm having a discussion with some leftys about war and peace and military atrocities at the Washington Note.

It starts off with a critique of an officer who decrys the influence of politics on military affairs:

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[The officer] must not have read his Clauzwitz. That would mean that he is not properly trained as an officer and doesn't belong in the military.

"War is politics by other means."

Either [The officer] is not an officer or he is a bad one.

Any way every war needs its Copperheads and McClellans. Seems there is no shortage even today.

I have something to say on the matter here with a link to one of Wretchard's fine pieces:

Copperheads

Posted by: M. Simon at November 1, 2004 11:19 PM

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Then I respond to a guy who says war for oil is a bad thing:

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Without oil a lot of people on this earth would die in six months. We depend on oil to feed people.

Now who do you suppose will do most of the dying without oil? Soros? Buffet?

A few thousand dying for oil is not a bad thing if the alternative is the deaths of hundreds of millions.

Don't you leftys ever think this stuff through?

I was a very staunch Democrat once.

The kind of silliness I see today is a reason I am no longer of that persuasion. Don't get me wrong. I'm none to happy with chimpy in a number of ways. But he gets it.

Oil means a better life for the poor of the world. Without it they die. Until we get to a post oil economy we have to look out for the interests of the poor. There are currently not enough horses to keep the poor we have alive using 1870s agriculture.

Posted by: M. Simon at November 1, 2004 11:29 PM

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Then we have an idealistic Dutchman who says if people stopped killing there would be no more killing so just stop right now please:

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To a Dutch Guy,

Nice Europeans. Such a moral people. They refused to kill in 1937 when Hitler took the Rhineland. And in 1938 when he wanted Czechoslovakia. In 1939 when Russia and Germany took Poland the western allies avoided killing as well. Good for them.

In 1940 the killing began in ernest and didn't end until 1945. The butchers bill was rather high for all the unwillingness to kill.

Americans still remember the history Europe wishes to forget. "Peace for our time." Has such a nice ring doesn't it? If only.

I'm really sorry my father and his cohorts did any killing on your behalf. If it weren't for my relatives in the camps, knowing Europe as I do today, I'd say we should have let you guys rot.

So I tell you what Dutch Boy.

Get out there between the armies and stop the killing on your own. Or is it you are so afraid of death that you prefer sitting in your quiet room, freed by the blood of Americans, wringing your hands and begging for an end to war?

War will end when all people deal with the alpha male struggle in a semi-civilized way. Until then war is our nature. You don't like that? Hide under the covers and hope it goes away. It is the one thing despots fear. People hiding under the covers begging for peace. LOL.

Posted by: M. Simon at November 2, 2004 12:04 AM